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Hi, I am an American Board Certified Neurologist with vast experience in diagnosing & treating all neurological as well as all other health/medical conditions, and I am very glad to help you with your health concerns.

I see you have been diagnosed with moderate cognitive impairments but no dementia/also no Alzheimer’s type dementia too and you have inquired – “will cognitive therapy help?”. As a Neurologist I frequently diagnose & treat this type of health situation and I can certainly help you in this regard.

First of all I am glad to hear there is no dementia including the Alzheimer’s dementia etc, and now as far as the treatment options are considered, and also to answer your main question -“will cognitive therapy help?” – The answer is “Yes” - cognitive therapy can help you.

The cognitive therapy is based on the cognitive model, which states our thoughts, feelings, behavior etc are all connected to each other, and that individuals can move toward overcoming difficulties & meeting their goals by identifying & changing unhelpful or inaccurate thinking, problematic behavior, and distressing emotional responses etc. This involves the individual working collaboratively with a therapist to develop skills for testing and modifying beliefs, identifying distorted thinking, relating to others in different ways, and changing behaviors. A tailored cognitive case conceptualization is developed by the cognitive therapist as a roadmap to understand the individual's internal reality, select appropriate interventions and identify areas of distress – and this cognitive therapy has been found to be helpful for treating cognitive impairments.

In addition to the cognitive therapy mentioned above what I will do now is provide you with a list of various other therapeutic interventions that can also help with moderate cognitive impairments.

This is a list of various other treatment modalities that can also help with moderate cognitive impairments;

A) Trying certain dietary modifications can help in improving the cognitive abilities - scientific studies have shown for example trying a healthy & balanced diet called as “Mediterranean diet” can help with improving the cognitive functioning.

Mediterranean Diet is a diet rich with nuts, legumes (beans, pulses/lentils), whole grains (instead of refined grains), fruits, vegetables, fish, lean meat etc, whereas this type of diet consists of very low amounts of red meat, processed meat & animal fat etc (animal fat consists of lot of cholesterol and saturated fat – which are considered bad forms of fat). Fish fat is considered as good fat since it contains lots of omega 3 fatty acids such as EPA & DHA which are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) - and these types of fats are considered very good for health.

C) Trying Mental exercises such as solving tough crossword puzzles, brain teasers, communication, socialization, computer based mental exercises etc also can considerably help in improving the cognitive functions. Anything that challenges the brain such as memory games, puzzles, problem-solving, time tests, learning a new skill etc all can help. Brain HQ is an online brain training exercise system, and it can also help. And it is scientifically proven to help. Of course it is mainly used to treat Alzheimer’s dementia but you are not having any dementias including Alzheimer’s type of dementia, but this online brain training exercise can help anyone having cognitive impairment (those who do not have dementias too). And this is the link for this brain training exercise system - https://www.brainhq.com

D) Adequate daily sleep. Sleep is important to optimize cognitive functioning. The recommended amount of sleep to get is 7 – 9 hours every day.

E) Trying one or more of the nutritional supplements or OTC (Over the counter) preparations such as the following can help too (these are also called as Cognitive supplements because these can help in improving cognitive impairments);

One of the Racetams such as Piracetam, or Aniracetam, or Omberacetam etc

Acetyl L Carnitine

ALA (Alpha Lipoic acid)

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

Bacopa Monnieri (Brahmi)

Ashwagandha

Gotu Kola

Rhodiola

Anti-Oxidant preparations etc

All the above nutritional supplements or herbal or natural preparations are available as OTC (Over the counter) without the need for any prescriptions.

F) Using Aromatherapy

G) Using one or more of the prescription medications or prescription medical foods such as the following can help too (these are mainly used for patients with Alzheimer’s dementia - but it can help individuals such as you with no dementias too);

Medical Food such as Axona (Caprylic triglyceride)

Memantine

Rivastigmine

Donepezil

Razadyne etc

H) NeuroAD-Therapy System – this is a medical device treatment, this is not approved in USA yet, while this is used in patients with Alzheimer’s type of dementia but these types of treatments can help individuals such as you having cognitive impairments but without any dementias too.

I) Individuals with resistant cognitive impairments and no treatments mentioned above helps then one of the following treatments may need to be tried;

Stem-cell treatment (this is still in experimental stage but has been found to be useful for individuals with cognitive impairments)

Immunoglobulin Infusion etc

Once again to your main question on whether the cognitive therapy can help with moderate cognitive impairments, yes it can certainly help, and I have mentioned above a list of various other treatment options too that all can help with moderate cognitive impairment, not all the above treatments are required in the same individual I am providing you with a list like this so that you are familiar with the various available treatment options to help with moderate cognitive impairment, and I earnestly hope you find the above information & list of treatments helpful to you.

Wishing you a quick & complete recovery! And also Wishing you the best health!

All the very best!

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or if you want to discuss this further. And please take a moment and kindly click a positive rating (preferably 5 Star/Excellent) to credit for the time & effort put by me in answering your health question, and this is the only way I will be credited for my service to you. Rating me now does not close your question and if you have follow-up or additional questions you can ask them after the rating too!

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Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.